Who is eligible to open an SRS account?

All Singaporeans, Singapore Permanent Residents (SPRs) and foreigners who

• are at least 21 years old;
• are not undischarged bankrupts; and
• are not of unsound mind.

Who is allowed to contribute to SRS?

If you earned employment income (excluding directors’ fees) or were a self-employed in the preceding year, you are allowed to contribute to SRS in the current year.

Note: There will be some changes with effect from 1 Oct 2008. Please refer to the MOF SRS website for more details.

Can my employer contribute to my SRS account?

No. The voluntary SRS contribution can only be made by employees and self- employed individuals to their own accounts.

Note: There will be some changes with effect from 1 Oct 2008. Please refer to the MOF SRS website for more details.

Why should I contribute to SRS?

Besides the obvious benefit of having more savings to draw on when you retire, you will enjoy the following tax benefits on contributions to SRS:

• You can claim tax relief for contributions made to SRS. Each dollar of SRS contribution will reduce your income chargeable to tax by a dollar.

• Investment gains will accumulate tax-free in SRS with the exception of Singapore dividends from which tax is deducted or deductible by the payer company under section 44 of the Income Tax Act, which are taxable at your individual tax rate.

• Tax will be payable only when you withdraw your savings from SRS. If you withdraw your savings upon retirement, only 50% of the savings withdrawn will be subject to tax. You may also spread your withdrawals over a period of up to 10 years (or more if the statutory retirement age increases) to meet your financial needs. Spreading out your withdrawals will generally result in greater tax savings.